I feel as though I was born naturally athletic, however, strength always seemed to be my weak point. I never lifted a single weight until my first year of my college's soccer off-season program. When I first started, I couldn't even do a single full pull-up. The first year was very laid back on my part, and my lack of determination in the weight room coupled with an ignorance when it came to the science of building muscle and the right diet, my efforts lead to minimum gains. The next year, I heard rumors from other players that the coach was specifically looking to recruit a player to replace me sighting my lack of power in holding the ball and aggression. This lit a fire in me and last January I became an absolute maniac in terms of my training. I consulted more experienced athletes, magazines, books, web sites to get all the information I could possibly obtain. After only a couple months, with hard work in the gym along with a new found proper diet, I saw great improvements in my physique. Having a naturally slim build, I've found that I plateau easily, and I've had to keep tweaking my routine and diet to keep gains moving forward, even if they have been slow after the initial first few months. Last summer, I worked on the field, doing aerobic, anaerobic activities in addiction to my strength training up to 8 hours a day. The work I put in seemed to have helped tremendously as I had my best season to date, breaking multiple school records during the season.

I wrote in the introduction section of the forums about my transition in my eating habits. To write a short version here, I was vegetarian for about 3 years during high school, but had to give it up. I had always thought about wanting to go back to that way of eating, but after my second year here, after learning all I had from traditional athletes/information sources, I thought it impossible to go back to a plant based diet. However, after randomly coming upon this website before the new year, I discovered that there was such a thing as a VEGAN competitive athlete. I started thinking, and realized that it is very possible to be on top of your physical form while eating cruel free. I made the decision to make the jump to veganism a few weeks ago, and I feel great!

So anyway, here is where I am physically at the moment. I am 5'10 and average 140lbs. I am in my "off season" currently. After about 10 months of daily stress on my joints and muscles, I have to take a break to discourage over training, and it also helps lead to bigger gains when I really get into it a couple weeks when our team starts our off season lifting program. So, what I currently do is just lift once, at most twice a week, to keep my legs and core in shape, so I don't have to regain lost muscle. I do a series of simple excercises that hit the most important muscles. Here are notes from my last workout.

Has anyone noticed a change in their bodily reactions, where they struggled, altering their diet to keep gains going when they first made the switch to veganism? Again, I'm less than a month in so I want to be proactive in my approach. I not only want to keep up with my overall strength but how it compares to my body weight, fat % and overall physique. I am obsessed with being the best I can in everything I do: sprint speed, endurance, power, and also having my body look its best. So I'm posting these pics to keep track to see if I can see visible results as well.

I'm preparing for my senior season, so I'm very determined to keep improving and have my best season next year. I would love any suggestion, constructive criticism, or encouragement that any of you guys can throw my way. This is a great community, and as I don't have any vegan friends, I look forward to leaning on the support that I hope I find here. Thanks guys!

im pushing two months being vegan now, and im very pleased. i really havent had any urges for animal products, which surprises me but i am pleased. when i used to be vegetarian i used to crave chicken all the time, but i guess i have a better foundation of knowledge, or my reasonings for giving up animal products are more rooted now. i dunno. anyway, my one fear was that i would either loose strength or find it very hard to make progress. im happy to say that im still making the same rate of progress if not better now than i used to. im now doing 3 sets of 10 w 280lb in the leg press, 4 sets of 15 w 50lb in leg curl, 3 sets of 25 w 60 lb in the standing calf raise. im finally doing 3 sets of 20 on pushups . took long enough! pull ups are almost at 7 for sets of 3, 3 sets of swiss ball sit ups (30) superset with pendulums (22). Another good thing is that i've been able to maintain my weight at 135. the reason i was worried about this is that im replacing a lot of very low fat low calorie foods like tuna, tilapia, chicken breast, and turkey for things like peanut butter, beans, nuts, which usually all have a higher fat and calorie count. but the switch hasnt caused me to gain weight so im pleased.starting in march, im getting set to start 'real' lifting again ha. so ill write down the routing when i switch.i think best of all, i may have opened up the eyes of some of my friends. one even got inspired by me and gave up animal products for lent! he came to me to get ideas on what he could eat and how to keep his strength up. i also feel my body looks a bit better

i havent gotten any feed back on here yet, but im mostly doing this for myself so i can track everything better and be more organized. still, i look forward to interaction, criticism, support, whatever. im very glad i made this decision, and i constantly visit these forums for inspiration.

Hey! Nice read, great photos, and story. Thanks!I noticed the Holister shirt, I live in SC Valley. If you ever have a game up this way, give me a shout. It'ld fun to go watch. Best of luck to you and your endeavore

_________________Happiness is a personal choice!I am the sole source of all my sadness and joy."The logic of worldly success rests on afallacy: the strange error that our perfectiondepends on the thoughts andopinions and applause of other men."Source: Thomas Merton

thanks guys! vegan joe i do have family living out there in the valley, though i dont think we will get a game out there, its a bit far from ky. i do have a question for all you experienced vegans. im gonna be going away for spring break in a couple weeks, and i was wondering what kind of food i could take on the road with me so i can keep getting the proper nutrients everyday. i dont think eating side salads at restraunts every meal will do the trick so i gotta think up a variety of foods to eat on. any help would be awesome!

Peanut butter: no refrigeration, no cooking, unbreakable jar, just need a spoon. Still looking for a link

_________________Happiness is a personal choice!I am the sole source of all my sadness and joy."The logic of worldly success rests on afallacy: the strange error that our perfectiondepends on the thoughts andopinions and applause of other men."Source: Thomas Merton

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